Four hours of Cooper time!

[Stizby]

Had my weekly visit at the breeder's with Cooper. This was my longest visit yet - 4 hours long!! Looks like Cooper will not be coming home until sometime in mid to late September. He took no formula last night but the night before he took nearly half a mug full. The breeder is leaving for Idaho to visit family the day after Labor Day and will be gone for a week. Her husband is staying behind to tend to all their birds. She is thinking that Cooper may be weaned by the time she is back. By the time she returns, Cooper will be 5 months old. She pulled his weight records for me and compared to a table for average weights for macaws at his age and he is a bit on the chubby side. But I guess better that than on the low end.

I had a very good visit with Cooper. While I was there, a family came by to see what birds the breeder has available for sale. The breeder left me alone with Cooper for about 2 hours while she showed the family her birds and answered their questions.

During that time, I gave to Cooper a screaming coco head -- one of those toys made up of a hollow coco shell with corn cobs sticking out to look like the head is screaming and the cobs are its hair standing on end -- and Cooper did a good job wrecking it. The breeder was very surprised to see how quickly he was able to tear the coco shell apart. I told her that I could see 2 x 4's in my future! My lord, if Cooper is this destructive now, I can only imagine what he will need for toys when he is grown up!

Cooper also cuddled with me for about an hour of the visit and gently preened my hair. When I arrived for the visit, the breeder saw how he recognized me and come running to the outdoor aviary door to come to me. She said it is clear that he remembers me. That really warmed my heart.

Anyway, when I came back and checked this forum, it looked like a lot of controversey has been brewing in my absence and thought it might be good to change the subject . . .

Here are a few photos of Cooper from my visit with him today. As you will see, he also loves to shred the tags to toys. Enjoy!

[willowbirdy218]

Sounds like Cooper is doing really well! Congrats, he is absolutely breath-taking!

[The Outlaw]

I pretty much figured this guy was gonna take a while. Some of them are just pokey when it comes to feeding themselves. You have an excellent breeder.

[Stizby]

Yes, Outlaw, I think my breeder is excellent. In fact, she and I have become pretty good friends as a result of all my visits with Cooper and our having the time to talk about parrots. She asked me today if I would like to go with her to a bird club meeting in Southern Michigan where Liz Wilson will be lecturing. Of course I said yes! I really have no friends or family members who share my fascination and wonder with parrots. So establishing a friendship with Cooper's breeder is an added bonus to getting Cooper!

By the way, Cooper weighs 996 grams. The breeder described him as being a bit "chubby" and keeps saying how he is going to be a "big boy". She told me that he probably has about 2/3 of his adult size now. I know that umbrella cockatoos are categorized as being "large", but it seems funny to think of Izzy being in the same size category as Cooper. To me, Izzy is all fluff compared to Cooper. When he is on my arm, he is quite a load!!

And Willowbirdy218, thank you for your compliment. Nice to know that I am not the only one who thinks he is breathtaking!

[felisdomesticus]

wow I can't even imagine the anticipation of waiting on a baby like this.

He's a gorgeous boy. congratulations.